He looked searchingly into her eyes.

The lids flickered nervously under his gaze, but he did not relax his scrutiny.
"Well ?" he said.
Her lips quivered.

She said nothing.
But her silence was enough.

He released her abruptly and dropped back in his chair without another word.
She sank down trembling against his knee, and there followed a most painful pause.

Through the stillness there crept again the faint strains of distant music.